Advantage Plan®

Electrical System Maintenance

Are you keeping up with electrical maintenance in your home? Maintenance may not be fun, but ignoring it is a mistake. Ailing electrical wiring and appliances suffering from age, wear-and-tear, and improper installation could put you and your family at risk as well as affect the value of your home.

Take steps to keep the electrical in your home in proper working order:

Lights

Ensure each light fixture incorporates a bulb with the proper wattage. This prolongs the life of both fixtures and bulbs as well as prevents fire.

GFCIs

Regularly test GFCI outlets by pressing the test/reset button. Replace them immediately if they are malfunctioning to reduce electrocution risk in moisture-prone areas of your home.

Smoke Detectors

Test monthly for reliability and replace batteries annually at a minimum. Be aware of expiration dates and the need for new smoke detectors every 10 years as expired detectors are not reliable.

Carbon Monoxide Detectors

Carbon monoxide detectors should also be tested monthly and have batteries replaced at least annually. Note replacement needs, with older models offering a limited life span of 2 years, and newer models requiring replacement every 5-6 years.

Outdoor Electrical

Surge Protection

Regularly inspect your whole house surge protector for proper function, damage, or signs of overloading to ensure the protection of sensitive and expensive electronics.

Backup Generators

Homes without a properly functioning backup generator could leave your family unprotected in the event of an unexpected power outage. Ensure the safety and comfort of your family by performing routine generator maintenance, including starting the generator to check function bi-annually, keeping the area around it clean, changing oil as recommended by the manufacturer, maintaining fresh and proper fuel levels, replacing distilled water in the battery, cleaning spark plugs, and routinely checking wires, buttons, bolts, connections, elements, and the ground for functionality and safety. Professional maintenance and calibration once or twice a year is also highly recommended.

Electrical Panel Maintenance

Older electrical panels present functional and safety issues, and are not as safe or reliable as today’s panels. They typically suffer multiple issues including improper wiring and over sized or undersized breakers. Some panels, as new as the 1980s, have been deemed defective and unsafe. Have you ever had your panel inspected?

Home Rewiring and Code Updates

Every 3 years, wiring codes in Canada are updated to ensure home electrical safety across the country. Older homes are especially at risk of electrical maintenance issues, including aluminum wiring, knob and tube wiring, exposed wiring, ungrounded outlets, and lack of compliance with current electrical code requirements. Learn more about our complimentary electrical home inspections to identify these and other electrical maintenance and safety issues in your home.

Most insurance companies will not insure homes with knob and tube wiring or aluminum wiring. Click below to find out why:

This information is not intended as an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, a franchise. It is for information purposes only. Currently, the following states regulate the offer and sale of franchises: California, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. If you are a resident of or want to locate a franchise in one of these states, we will not offer you a franchise unless and until we have complied with applicable pre-sale registration and disclosure requirements in your state.